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Forum:G20 and PCC (9/09)
The G20 and the International Pittsburgh Coal Conference will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in late September 2009. A variety of protest actions and events are planned (see events below). If you plan to work in the clinic or wellness center, please see the Scheduling forum. If you have supplies or money to donate, please see the Supplies and donations forum. Planned roles for medics Street medics who have completed the 20 hour training will be on the streets, each with a buddy, in the marches and various actions carrying first aid supplies on their persons. The buddy pairs will be organized into a team structure. There may be wellness monitors in buddy pairs also on the streets. These people have not been trained or don't want to be marked medics, but are "eyes and ears" for medics, may carry bottled water, and help spread calm. As close as is safe, within walking distance to protest areas, we hope to have a first aid clinic / decontamination station. "Clinic workers" will work there, or "street clinicians." These people have usually completed a street medic training plus have additional training, experience, and/or healthcare-related certifications. The clinic can help decontaminate people who have been exposed to chem weapons, and provide help for medical situations that are not enough of emergencies to necessarily need a 911 call. Back in Pittsburgh's East End will be the Frank Wellness Center, a quiet safe place with street clinicians and "wellness workers," including listeners / peer counselors, massage therapists, and herbalists. The center will remain open as people get out of jail, and will help with handcuff injuries, care for emotional trauma, and other support needs. It may remain open for the long term. See below for more information. About wearing two hats Anyone marked as a medic or clearly in a medic role must work only as a medic. Identified medics may not do media/photography work, carry signs, or damage property. Points of unity TBA Medic housing The resistG20 project has offered to find housing for medics through their housing board. To apply to stay with other medics or as a group or to offer housing, send an email to housing@resistG20.org with the subject Medic Housing. They will be prioritizing medics and will try to keep groups together. The instructions from their website are below. If you are requesting housing please email housing@resistg20.org with answers to the following questions. *Name of group contact, # of people in group. Name of group members. *Phone number and email address of contact. *Dates housing is needed (from/to). *What kinds of needs do you have? *Do you have any friends or family members in Pittsburgh? If you can offer housing to out-of-towners, please email housing@resistg20.org with answers to the following questions. *Name of contact person at house. *Phone number, address and email of contact. *Can you as a host offer anything like a child, queer, people of color friendly environment? *How many people can you host on beds, on floor, in yard, etc? *How are you affiliated with/ find out about the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project? *What dates can you offer housing (to/from)? Schedule of activist events The big days of action are Wed 9/23 to Fri 9/25. If you're planning on working as a street medic, think about which events you want to provide first aid support for. Some events may not need medical support. Saturday, September 19 The People’s Summit 9/19 and 9/21-22 at location TBA. A broad partnership of educational institutions and social justice groups are drawing together speakers, panels and workshops on issues including poverty, racism, war, environment, human rights, etc. They expect around 500 people to participate in various venues around the city. p.leblanc@laroche.edu Sunday, September 20 G-6 Billion March Procession on 9/20, 2pm A collection of people of faith and faith-based groups will hold a procession that will start on the North Side at 2pm and end near the DL Convention Center. They are also organizing educational activities and prayer in the days leading up to the G20 Summit. g6billlion.ning.org IAC / Bail Out the People Tent City & March Economic Justice march on 9/20, 2pm • Tent City The International Action Center has called for a “global mobilization” against the G20 summit. They’re planning a caravan of unemployed workers to set up a tent city at the Monumental Baptist Church starting 9/20, as well as a march from the Church to the DL Convention Center at 2pm. www.bailoutpeople.org Monday, September 21 Environmental Justice Actions Direct Actions • Climate Camp A collection of groups and individuals have recently formed working groups to a) organize protests and creative actions around the International Coal Conference that precedes the G20 summit in Downtown Pgh (Sept. 21-23); b) organize a “Climate Justice Camp” to model the world we hope to see and amplify the voices of the region’s communities impacted by longwall mining, mountain top removal, marcellus shale & more. www.actforclimatejustice.org ' Women's Coalition Tent City ' 9/21-25 Tent City • Feeder march for 9/25 permitted march Pittsburgh chapters of the CodePink, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and other groups are forming a coalition for a round-the-clock “refugees of war” tent city which they hope will take place near the David Lawrence Convention Center. francineporter@aol.com UN International Day of Peace event Sponsored by G-6 Billion. g6billlion.ning.org IAC / Bail Out the People Tent City (cont'd from 9/20) The People’s Summit (cont'd from 9/19) Tuesday, September 22 Community Gathering food • music • stories at location TBA in the East End of Pittsburgh Sponsored by the Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project. PG20RP encourages other groups to hold similar gatherings in neighborhoods throughout the city. These events will bring together community members already active against the G20 with their neighbors, and locals with out-of-towners who care enough to come to Pittsburgh to resist the G20. This is not a protest; this is a chance to directly tell our story of the world for which we’re fighting. http://resistg20.org/ International Peace, Justice, & Empowerment Summit 9/22-23 location TBA. The National Council For Urban Peace, Justice & Empowerment is organizing a response to the G20 Summit. The purpose is to elevate discussion of the G20 beyond the narrow aspects of the health of financial markets, to address problems such as poverty, housing, employment, education, climate change, urban infrastructure, healthcare, economic development and other issues pertinent to the survival of disadvantaged peoples. TRByrdsong@ceapittsburgh.org Environmental Justice Direct Actions & Climate Camp (cont'd from 9/21) Women's Coalition Tent City (cont'd from 9/21) IAC / Bail Out the People Tent City (cont'd from 9/20) The People’s Summit (cont'd from 9/19) Wednesday, September 23 Mass March; Concert; Spokescouncil Other Pittsburgh organizations are tentatively holding a major march followed by an evening concert. The Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project is calling for a Red and Black contingent within this march. In accordance with the Pittsburgh Principles, this anti-authoritarian presence will not be a black bloc and will not be masked. Later that night there will be a spokescouncil (a meeting of representatives from groups participating in street actions) to discuss the following day’s schedule. http://resistg20.org/ Possible United Steelworkers March and Rally No-G, 20k Bike Tour @ 5pm 9/23, 5pm, location TBD The 20k (12.4 miles) bike tour will ride the streets of the City, stopping briefly at radical historic sites and alternative institutions. Some bikes will be available for out-of-towners. International Peace, Justice, & Empowerment Summit (cont'd from 9/22) Environmental Justice Direct Actions & Climate Camp (cont'd from 9/21) Women's Coalition Tent City (cont'd from 9/21) IAC / Bail Out the People Tent City (cont'd from 9/20) Thursday, September 24 Unpermitted Mass March Unpermitted march 9/24, 2:30 PM We will meet at 2:30pm in a location TBA in the East End to “March on the G20” summit at David Lawrence Convention Center downtown. This event is a space for the active expression of diverse forms of resistance by all those wishing to oppose the G20. http://resistg20.org/ Women's Coalition Tent City (cont'd from 9/21) IAC / Bail Out the People Tent City (cont'd from 9/20) Friday, September 25 Mass Action; Convergence in Oakland; Jail Solidarity Encampment Simultaneous Actions • Feeder March • Jail Solidarity 9/25, 12 noon Events will begin with dozens of simultaneous actions that connect the struggle against the G20 to a broader arena of local and international social resistance. Afterward, groups will converge at 5th & Craft in Oakland to participate in the march and rally being organized by our allies, the Thomas Merton Center Anti-War Committee. After the conclusion of the march, we will move as a group to begin a jail solidarity encampment outside the local jail and wherever they hold folks arrested during the summit. http://resistg20.org/ Permitted March and Rally @ 12pm Permitted march 9/25, 12 noon The Thomas Merton Center’s Antiwar Committee is organizing a permitted march and rally that will start at 5th & Craft and end as near to the site of the G20 Convention Center as the authorities will allow. The Merton Center AWC encourages groups to form contingents and feeder marches to highlight their issues. www.thomasmertoncenter.org Women's Coalition Tent City (cont'd from 9/21) feeder March to permitted event IAC / Bail Out the People Tent City (cont'd from 9/20) Frank wellness center A five-year old peer support and radical mental health group in Pittsburgh called Lentil Soup is working together with street clinicians, wellness workers, and peer counselors to found the Frank Wellness Center this September 22-28, and we need your help. If you plan to work in the clinic or wellness center, please see the Scheduling forum. We will care for the community as it is confronted with state violence, medical and mental health issues, and decreased self-care that results from stress. The Frank Wellness Center will share resources and volunteers with a street medic-run first aid clinic which may be located closer to downtown. These are the care goals for the Wellness Center: *We strive to be helpful, listen to people, and walk with them through their recovery process. *Quiet, comfortable bed space for injured people with access to helpers and healers. *Emotional assistance for anyone experiencing emotional trauma. Healers may also visit those in the hospital. *“Chapel” space for meditation, prayer, etc. *Phones for patients to reach their families, and where family or friends can call patients back; help arranging healthcare and travel for people with health issues or people in crisis. The Frank Wellness Center is tied into the protest medical response, but also prepared to support the needs of the wider East End community. People will be trained and mentored through the center in peer support, basic bodywork, basic herbal medicine, and street medicine. We will provide care beginning during the protests against the Pittsburgh G20 Summit and will continue to serve the Pittsburgh community long after the summit has ended. There are several ways to get involved: *Raise funds or get supplies donated. *Lead or attend a training or skill-share in September. *Take a volunteer shift in September, or help out someone else so they can volunteer by providing childcare or transportation (rides or loaned bicycles). *Send positive energy to the Center, remember it in your prayers, or think of it kindly. *If you are a medical or wellness provider, let us refer patients to you for free or low-cost care. *Have your organization sign on to this call to action, and forward it widely. If you have special needs, please be clear about what they are so we can accommodate you. We are very much aware of the need for safe plans for children including childcare and nearby housing. More info / get involved What is the G-20? What does it do? What countries are members? How is it related to the Global Financial Crisis? How is it related to the IMF/World Bank and Third World debt? Why are people protesting it in Pittsburgh? - see Twenty People Commanding 6.7 Billion: An Introduction to the G-20, IMF, and Economic Crisis at http://resistg20.org/literature Where can I find out more about the medical response to the G-20? - see http://medic.wikia.com How can I get involved in the medical response to the G-20? - subscribe to the pittsburgh-medical email list by going to - LIST NO LONGER ACTIVE and following the directions to subscribe. You will be expected to send a personal introduction to the list. The intros help us get to know each other as we transition into working together. *Name (or nickname)? *Region you are coming from? *Are there other medics or people coming with you? Do you need housing? *Are you a trained street medic? Who trained you? *Do you have any prior medical certifications (i.e. WFR, EMT, RN, MD, etc)? *Would you like to be involved as a street medic, a clinical worker, a wellness worker, or in an organizing/planning role? *Do you plan on attending a street medic training?